JUDGING is now well advanced for next year’s National Beef Carcase Competition, held every three years as part of the Beef Australia 2027 industry event in Rockhampton next May.

Grading of carcases for next year’s event opened back in January, and will close at the end of January next year, to accommodate different seasonal cycles and weather patterns across the nation.

Almost 400 carcases have been graded in 19 beef processing plants so far, both grass and grainfed.

Assessments have already taken place in plants in central, southern and northern Queensland, New South Wales, Western Australia, Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania. The most northerly plant to participate is the Rocky Creek abattoir neat Tolga, on the Atherton Tableland in Far North Queensland, and the most southerly being Smithton and Longford in Tasmania, reflecting the truly national nature of the competition.

The strong spring season being experienced across parts of southern Australia is expected to deliver another wave of grassfed entries over the next three months. On top of that, there are some large annual regional grainfed beef carcase competitions coming up including the NSW Beef Spectacular, Angus Australia/Teys Northern Feedlot Trial, Bindaree Beef Feedlot Trial and Circular Heads (Tasmania) Carcase Trial that will inject another wave of entries.

The competition is structured to allow entrants in regional carcase competitions to make dual entries into the Rocky national event.

It’s anticipated that close to 700 head will be graded for the competition by the time entries and the judging window close next January.

Grassfed entries out of Central Queensland may be down a little on earlier competitions due to the dry conditions experienced over the past four or five months, but strong southern conditions may help offset that, Carcase Committee chair David Hill said.

The first group to be chiller and MSA graded for next year’s competition went under scrutiny back in January at the Greenham Smithton export plant in Tasmania. The grassfed cattle were part of Greenham’s flagship Cape Grim Certified Grassfed program.

Close to 30 beef processors located in all Australian states are likely to participate by the time judging closes in four months’ time.

Beef 2027’s National Carcase Competition will include eight classes – three each for grainfed and grassfed entries, ranging from domestic trade steers and heifers to export steer weights, and two open feeding classes, including a longfed category.

“The long entry window is designed to complement all production systems across Australia, making sure that all competitors can find a slot that best suits their production cycles,” David Hill said.

The National Beef Carcase Competition is the largest and most comprehensive event of its type in Australia. At the previous event held back in 2024, 732 carcases representing 244 pens of three from all states were included.

The appraisal system is designed to meet both export and domestic market requirements and uses the latest digital technology available to the beef industry, including the returning use of the MasterBeef grading camera.

The event allows beef producers to benchmark their cattle’s performance, delivering feedback including carcase compliance against market specifications, MSA traits including marbling, fat colour, meat colour and eye muscle area, lean meat yield and predicted eating quality measured under the MSA index.

Handsome cash prizes and trophies will be awarded to the top entries in each class, and an MSA Index Award will be made to the winning individual carcase with the highest MSA Index Score. An Achievement Award is awarded to the overall Champion Carcase and Reserve Champion Carcase; an MSA Index Award to the winning pen of three carcases with the highest combined MSA Index scores; and a Champion Pen and Reserve Champion Pen award to the Highest Scoring Pen of three in each class.

Carcase Competition Dinner

A special presentation acknowledging a person’s industry contribution will be made during next May’s competition dinner, taking place on Tuesday evening, 4 May.

Beef Australia Members and Partners tickets go on sale 27 October; general public 3 November.

Beef 2027 happens in Rockhampton, Queensland from 2-8 May next year.